CHRISTMAS CAROL - FULL FLASHCARDS

‘dismal little cell’

‘sort of tank’

METAPHOR: ‘cell’ - reflects how Bob C is trapped in his job by his poverty

SIMILE: ‘tank’ - suggests Bob C is treated like an animal / DEHUMANISED

‘Bah Humbug’ - SC

REPETITION: the plosives reflect SC’s DISDAIN and TOTAL REJECTION OF GOODWILL AND CHARITY

‘decrease the surplus population’ - SC

repeated by ghost of xmas present

why does Dickens do this?

‘surplus population’: DEHUMANISING TERM for the poor - reflects SC’s LACK OF HUMANITY → Links with Bob C’s ‘tank’

ghost of xmas present repetition - Dickens repeats SC’s words using Tiny Tim: emphasises how CRUEL and DESPICABLE THE STEREOTYPE AND LACK OF CARE for the poor is

• Dickens uses SC to EXPOSE and ATTACK how the poor are STEREOTYPES as criminals, lazy, or DEHUMANISED as unnecessary to society

‘the fog and frost’

description of SC’s home

Pathetic Fallacy:

‘fog’ - suggests SC’s MORAL BLINDNESS

‘frost’ - his emotional coldness/distance from others

‘fellow passengers to the grave… not another race of creatures’ - SC’s nephew

‘fellow passengers’: Dickens PROMOTES the idea of COMMUNITY

‘creatures’: Dickens WARNS AGAINST PREJUDICE and DEHUMANISING THE POOR

• parallels Marley’s lesson: ‘mankind was my business’

Ghost of Xmas past description

‘a tunic of purist white’ - white = purity = biblical reference, God

has winter holly in hand and summer flowers on its dress - hope, new life and resilience, suggets there’s hope for SC to change

‘a bright clear jet of light’: spirits purpose is to ENLIGHTEN SC - contrasts SC’s moral blindness

CONTRASTS SC’s association with darkness

Represents SC’s painful past (which leads to future bitterness) as it’s never described as warm

Honesty and truth of his past is hard to deal with

‘what idol has displaced you?’

‘a golden one’ - Belle

METAPHOR: ‘golden idol’ - represents GREED/AVARICE

biblical reference: the worship of false values —> a sin

Shows how SC chooses money over love, over belle, and isolates himself with his greed

also shows how SC rejects christian values (sinning)

‘as good as gold’

SIMILE: ‘gold’ - emphasises how he is MORALLY UPRIGHT despite his illness and disability; links w what is PRECIOUS

image of gold CONTRASTS SC’s association w darkness

(links w LIGHT IMAGERY)

‘shrouded in a deep black garment’

Description of ghost of xmas yet to come

imagery of darkness- links to archetypal portayal of DEATH/GRIM REAPER

contrasts light imagery of the other spirits; suggests Sc’s fate is something to be feared

‘I don’t mind going if lunch is provided’

IRONY: the businessmen have THE SAME SELFISH/MISERLY VALUES as Sc;

they TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIS DEATH - appears CRUEL and UNCARING

links to victorian society’s uncaring attitude to the poor

consequences of greed

‘Spirit of Tiny Tim, thy childish essense was from God!’

TT portrayed as a kind of SAVIOUR; his death is given religious significance

he represents CHRISTIAN VIRTUES DESTROYED BY SOCIETY’S GREED/SELFISHNESS

re-enforces Dickens’ MORAL PURPOSE

Death of Tiny Tim

links to Dickens’ warning if society’s greed and self-interest does not change, it will result in the destruction of all innocence and all that is good

TT’s death - links to Ignorance + Want: they are all children who are victims of poverty ~ they are corrupted/destroyed by society’s ignorance and selfishness

Spirit shows SC the death of TT to…

1. show the consequences of his self-centeredness

2. to shock him into changing his behaviour + attitude to the poor

(this is also a message to Victorian Society)

‘no fog, no mist… heavenly sky’

Sc’s transformation

Pathetic Fallacy: contrast to dark/fog

repetition of ‘no’ - reflects how SC is no longer morally blind

imagery of warmth contrasts hos cold-heartedness in stave 1

‘heavenly’: biblical reference - SC has taken up christian values, contrasts ‘sinner’ in stave 1

‘and to Tiny Tim… he was a second father’

METAPHOR: ‘father’ - Sc shows SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY/CHARITY;

• he REDEEMS HIMSELF by saving TT’s life;

fulfills Dickens’ MORALISTIC purpose

TT as a symbol of hope and innocence (against stereotypes of the poor at the time)